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Originally Posted by albania
If you want to make math "fun" and enjoyable then the answers are easy in my view . Just take away all the rigor, introduce it as a historical subject and change the way in which math is graded(as in take away the x(s) and check marks, and replace them by the more ambiguous notion of grading on correct mathematical ideas and intuition).
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That might work on math at a higher level, but there is still always a right and a wrong answer. There is no ambiguity to 2+2=4. I'm also not so sure that teaching it as a historical subject would work any better as history is right up there with math as one of the more loathed subjects in school.
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Originally Posted by albania
To actually comment on the bulk of the text: It seems well written and somewhat entertaining if at times preachy. However, math education and education in general is a bloated field. Though this is not at all what I consider my subject of interest (so take my view with a grain of salt) the impression I get is that even the successful endeavors tend to have a brief flicker then fizzle out and for the most part are relegated to obscurity. I don't think that this one would be any differently received if at all.
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This I'm not sure I could have said any better though. Math is just one subject out of many that could be taught very differently, but ultimately I'm not sure just how much good would come of it. Our education system is so ingrained into society that changing it would almost be like changing the US to the Metric system.